The parents of the 12-week-old baby with a badly disfigured face today arrived at court to fight for the right to decide on their child's medical welfare.

The parents, who cannot be named for legal reasons, were being represented in the Family Division of the High Court sitting at the Leeds Civil Hearing Centre, as they fight medical opinion, which states their baby needs an emergency tracheotomy to correct breathing difficulties.

The baby girl arrived in the North East from Saudi Arabia last week and has been in the intensive care unit at Newcastle's Royal Victoria Infirmary.

An emergency Police Protection Order was taken out on the recommendation of medical staff on Monday, after the parents threatened to remove the child. Proceedings were transferred to Leeds and were expected to start today under the guidance of Mr Justice Bodey.

The parents arrived with their legal team at 10am to fight for the right to remove their child from the RVI. The case will be heard in chambers.